BHUBANESWAR: A day after the Jana Jagaran Yatra of the Congress concluded in Balasore district, senior Congress leader of the district Padmalochan Panda resigned from the party. A three-time MLA from Simulia Constituency in the district, Panda is likely to join BJP.
In a letter to Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik, Panda informed about his resignation from the primary membership of the party. Panda said intra-party feud in the Odisha Congress and lack of coordination among the leaders were the reasons behind his resignation from the party. The former MLA said he will announce his next move on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, former union minister Srikant Jena reiterated his stand that the Chief Minister should be from Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or Other Backward Classes (OBCs) if the Congress came to power in the 2019 elections. Jena, who was elected from the Balasore Lok Sabha Constituency in the 2009 elections, accompanied Patnaik during the three-day Yatra in Balasore district.
The former union minister said the statement of Chiranjib Biswal, working president of the OPCC, about the chief ministerial candidate of Congress for the 2019 elections was his personal opinion. “Congress never projects a chief ministerial candidate for any election. It is his (Biswal’s) personal opinion,” Jena said.
Addressing a meeting of the Jana Jagaran Yatra of the Congress in Balasore, Biswal had said the party is going to contest assembly elections in the State under the leadership of Patnaik. “He will be the Chief Minister if the party comes to power in 2019,” Biswal said. The former union minister said no decision has been taken by the party for the chief ministerial candidate of Congress in Odisha for next elections.
Jena said during the Yatra, Congress leaders requested party cadres at the grassroots level and common people to strengthen the party. He, however, said there has been no dilution of his stand on the chief ministerial candidate. “It is my personal opinion. The party may accept it or may not accept it,” he said.